It isn't often that any NBA player is a legitimate candidate for more than one major award during the same season. In 2024-25, Dyson Daniels of the Atlanta Hawks does fit that bill. As the 22-year-old is enjoying one of the best defensive seasons for a guard in recent memory, he is doing it in a clear breakout season that has attracted attention for another honor.
Many have asked whether Daniels is more likely to win Defensive Player of the Year or Most Improved Player this season, or even if he could possibly crash the party with a two-award sweep. Let's take a look.
Why Daniels could win Defensive Player of the Year
Only one guard has won DPOY since 1995-96, and it has clear been a big man award for a long time. To that end, Victor Wembanyama was seen as a rather massive favorite to claim the 2024-25 honor, but his season-ending ailment opened the door to a wide-open field of candidates. That certainly includes Daniels, who is putting together the most productive defensive season by a guard in more than three decades.
For example, Daniels has already set the modern NBA record for deflections (421) by a wide margin, even with six games remaining in the season. More conventionally, Daniels is averaging 3.06 steals per game to lead the NBA, and he is currently averaging 72 percent (!) more steals than the No. 2 player, Oklahoma City's Cason Wallace, who is averaging only 1.78 per game.
That ridiculous margin speaks for itself, but Daniels also has impressive numbers compared to bigs. In fact, he leads the NBA in "stocks" (steals + blocks) with 3.76 per game, and no player is even in the same range, with Utah's Walker Kessler at No. 2 overall with 3.00 per contest. Beyond the box-score impact, Daniels is taking on the No. 1 assignment for an improved Hawks defense each night, and he is doing it all while averaging only 2.4 fouls per game.
Why Daniels could win Most Improved Player
Daniels was a lottery pick in 2022, entering the league with the sizable expectations that accompany that draft position. With that said, he was deployed in a relatively small role in two seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans. Daniels averaged only 22.3 minutes per game in his second season, averaging modest numbers (5.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.4 steals) and making only 16 starts.
Fast-forward to the summer of 2024, and Daniels was acquired by Atlanta in a swap for Dejounte Murray. From the first moment of training camp, it was clear he was on track to be a fully entrenched starter for the Hawks, and that uptick in deployment certainly helped his per-game numbers. It is crucial to note, though, that Daniels' per-minute improvement is also quite clear.
In addition to his league-best defensive production, Daniels is averaging 14.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game. Last season, Daniels averaged 12.8 points per 100 possessions while shooting 44.7 percent from the field and 31.1 percent from three-point range. This year, Daniels has upped that to 19.5 points per 100 on 49.3 percent from the field and 34.5 percent from long distance. Supporting awards like Most Improved Player and Sixth Man of the Year are often linked heavily to scoring, but Daniels' overall production and performance leap certainly checks the "most improved" boxes.
What do the betting odds say?
As of the morning of April 3, Daniels is the betting favorite for Most Improved Player. Detroit's Cade Cunningham occupied that perch for multiple months, but strong recent play from Daniels has perhaps changed the perception. He sits between -240 and -270 at different sports books, illustrating that position. While betting odds are not gospel when it comes to award races, it is a useful indicator that Daniels is, at the very least, in the mix for MIP.
In contrast, Daniels is between +2500 and +4000 for DPOY right now, trailing Draymond Green, Evan Mobley, and Lu Dort in the current market odds. In short, it seems as if Atlanta's modest record and defensive ranking as a team are holding Daniels back, in addition to the penalty often associated with perimeter players in comparison to bigs.
As such, the answer to the broad question of which is more likely seems to lean clearly to MIP right now, but much can change in the final ten days of the regular season.